ADJ

bright, brilliant, clever, excellent, good, great, marvellous
valuable, worthwhile
exciting, inspirational, interesting, stimulating
constructive, positive
creative, imaginative, innovative, original
wacky
big
The latest big idea is to make women more interested in sport
alternative
Group counselling is used as an alternative idea to punishment
fresh, new
absurd, bad, mistaken, ridiculous
crackpot, crazy, mad, outlandish, wild
half-baked
ambitious, big, grand
He joined the company as an office assistant with big ideas
grandiose
basic
The basic idea is that we all meet up in London

VERB + IDEA

have
Do you have any ideas for a present for Lara?
come up with, dream up, hit on/upon, produce, think up
draw, get
Her ideas are drawn mainly from Chinese art
contribute, input
moot, put forward
promote, push (forward), sell
They managed to push the idea of moving office through the committee
welcome
Most employees welcome the idea of a ban on smoking
consider, entertain, flirt with, toy with
I'm toying with the idea of packing in my job
mull over, turn over
He kept turning the idea of resigning over in his mind
encourage, generate
Brainstorming is a good way of generating ideas
stifle
a system of decision-making that stifles original ideas
reject, scoff at, veto
test, try out
bounce around, bounce off sb, brainstorm, discuss, explore, talk about
I met up with a designer to bounce a few ideas around. It's useful to have someone to bounce ideas off
exchange, pool, share
give sb
What gave you the idea to go freelance?
apply, implement, put into action/effect/practice
The idea had long been mooted but nothing had been done to put it into practice
transform, translate
How could we translate the idea into business reality?
steal
She accused the company of stealing her idea
impose
She always tries to impose her own ideas on the rest of the team

IDEA + VERB

come into sb's head/mind, come to sb, flash across/into sb's mind/brain, hit sb, occur to sb, pop into sb's head, strike sb
The idea for the invention came to him in the bath
emerge, evolve, form, grow
An idea began to form in his mind
flow
His ideas flowed faster than he could express them
come from sb/sth, date back from/to sth, originate, start, stem from sth
The idea for the Olympics originated with Pierre de Coubertin
blossom, work (out)
The idea has now blossomed into a successful mail-order business
lead
The idea eventually led to the invention of the telephone
come to nothing

PREP

~ about
I have an idea about how to tackle the problem
~ for
We were asked to suggest ideas for improving efficiency
~ of
She had the idea of advertising on the Internet

PHRASES

be open to ideas
I don't know what to do, but I'm open to ideas
the germ/glimmering of an idea
The germ of his idea came from watching a bird make a nest
have other ideas
I wanted to take the week off, but my boss had other ideas
it might be an idea
It might be an idea to leave a note on the door for Mark

ADJ

clear, concrete, precise
abstract
theoretical
basic, rough, vague
He gave me a rough idea of what was wanted
key, main
The book introduces the key ideas of sociology
dominant
fixed, inflexible
preconceived
definite, firm, strong
She has very definite ideas about what kind of a job she wants
complex, difficult
simplistic
conventional
traditional
radical, revolutionary
contradictory
erroneous, false, wrong
I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea about me
funny, strange
utopian
romantic
People have a romantic idea of the police force
new-fangled
outdated
not the faintest/foggiest/remotest/slightest (informal)
I haven't got the faintest idea what she meant. | artistic, economic, intellectual, moral, musical, philosophical, political, scientific | fascist, feminist, nationalist, socialist

VERB + IDEA

get
They seem to have got the idea that we will be giving them a lift. You'll soon get the idea (= understand)
espouse, have, hold
He holds very different ideas to mine about discipline
develop, form, shape
the experiences that shaped her ideas
express
communicate, convey, get across, get over, present, put across
The book puts across complex ideas in a way anyone can understand
demonstrate, explain, expound, illustrate
clarify, formalize, formulate, organize, structure
Give careful thought to how to structure your ideas in the essay
change, reconsider, reshape, revise
They had to reconsider their ideas in the light of new evidence
accept
dismiss, reject
harbour
I hope he's not still harbouring ideas about asking me out
be obsessed with
He's obsessed with the idea of getting a motorbike
relish
I don't relish the idea of sharing an office with Tony

IDEA + VERB

amuse sb, appeal to sb, please sb
The idea of going to his rescue amused her
catch on, take hold
Some students started wearing denim, and the idea caught on

PREP

~ about
She's got some funny ideas about how to motivate staff
~ behind
The idea behind the ceremony is to keep the gods happy to ensure a good crop
~ of
Swimming in an icy river is not my idea of fun